


A Bouquet of Flours

by protostar (variablestar)



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe, I'm not sure what AU this even is, M/M, They bake things okay, They're neighbors and they bake things and it's cute, stop making me title things, uh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-19
Updated: 2017-04-19
Packaged: 2018-10-21 01:18:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,759
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10674726
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/variablestar/pseuds/protostar
Summary: But Oikawa was going to get tarts.  He was going to get the best strawberry tarts the world had ever seen, even if it was the last thing Suga ever did.  Because God, the brownies had been amazing, and they were thoughtful, and Suga was not going to be outdone.Suga just wanted to give the boy next door a present for his birthday.  He definitely didn't intend to get into a baking war with the boy's uncle.





	A Bouquet of Flours

            Every day, Suga arrived home at the same time as the young boy who lived next door. He was in grade school, probably, and he was always getting back at the same time as Suga, coming from the other side of the hall where the elevator was, while Suga took the stairs.

 

            At first, neither paid the other any mind. But a few weeks after Suga moved in, the boy had given a tentative wave, and Suga had responded with a small smile. Now, it was at the point where they held miniature conversations as they both dug out their keys and tried to fit them into the locks. This was how Suga learned the boy’s name was Takeru, that he liked volleyball, and that he loathed math. It was how Takeru learned that Suga worked as a librarian, that math had been his worst subject in school.

 

            It was how Suga had found out about Takeru’s birthday, which was what put Suga in his current predicament. Because a classmate of Takeru’s had given him some cupcakes purchased from the grocery store, which Takeru then passed on to Suga (“I don’t like store-bought, they’re gross. You take them.”) It was why Suga had gone out to get him a gift — nothing special, just a new volleyball that held the logo for a team Takeru once mentioned he liked.

 

            This was why there was a small box of brownies outside his apartment door the next morning.

 

            There was a note attached, which Suga picked up after a moment of confused staring. It was on a small square of card stock, emblazoned with the logo for a bakery Suga passed on his way home, Aoba Johsai. The note was short, written in the neatest handwriting Suga had ever seen.

 

            _I just wanted to thank you for the gift you gave to Takeru. It was very thoughtful, and we both really appreciate it!_

            _-Oikawa Tooru_

 

            Suga stared at the note a little longer than was probably necessary. He vaguely recognized the name, but couldn’t quite place it. He’d look into it later, he decided, before carrying the brownies into his apartment and leaving them on the counter. He’d figure out where he knew _Oikawa Tooru_ from after he found a way to repay him.

 

            The volleyball had been a _gift_. He didn’t want anything in return, it wasn’t something that called for reciprocation. So he had to find something to give to his neighbor, as a way of thanking him for the brownies.

 

            He took the walk to work to think about it. He didn’t know anything about his neighbor. After four months of living in his apartment, Takeru was the only one he’d seen coming and going from the next door over. He didn’t even know what Oikawa Tooru _looked_ like. He definitely didn’t know what kind of gift to get him.

 

            Maybe something volleyball related? But then, what if Takeru was the only one interested in the sport? A gift card was a cop-out, with no thought put behind it. Fruit baskets were stupid and over-the-top. No, no, it had to be something _better_.

 

            It hit him as he entered the library that he had a totally brilliant, totally _thoughtful_ gift to give to his neighbor. It was perfect.

 

————————

 

            Baking, as it turned out, was a lot harder than it seemed. And tarts? _Impossible_.

 

            But Suga was determined. Homemade baked goods were the perfect gift, the perfect way to return Oikawa’s brownies. It was just, Suga couldn’t get the _damn_ strawberry filling to turn out right. It was _infuriating_.

 

            “Just— come _on_ ,” Suga groaned. “Be— good— damn it!” He watched the filling — far too thin of a consistency this time — slip out of the bowl and over half the countertop. The last time, it’d been too thick, and he couldn’t manage to fix it. The attempt before that hadn’t even tasted like strawberries.

 

            But Oikawa was going to get tarts. He was going to get the best strawberry tarts the world had ever seen, even if it was the last thing Suga ever did. Because God, the brownies had been _amazing_ , and they were _thoughtful_ , and Suga was _not_ going to be outdone.

 

            So he started again on the filling.

 

            And again.

 

            And again.

 

            And then he gave in and called Kageyama.

 

            “Suga-san?”

 

            “Hey, hi! You like to bake, don’t you?” Suga glared at the latest batch of ruined filling. Too sweet.

 

            “Uh, yeah, why?” Kageyama asked.

 

            “I need a favor,” Suga said. “I— I”m trying to make tarts. For my neighbor. But I _suck_ at it.”

 

            “I can help,” Kageyama replied. “I can be over in an hour, if you’d like.”

 

            “That’d be great, _thank_ you.”

 

            While he waited, Suga made himself tea, something he excelled at, and washed some of the dishes. He’d written out six drafts of a note to go with the finished tarts, trying to make them out to sound as grateful as he felt, while also having the nicest handwriting he could manage, before there was a knock at the door.

 

            Kageyama was one of the library’s part-time workers, trying to earn the extra money he needed to put himself through culinary school. He was quiet and nice enough most of the time, and Suga quite liked him.

 

            “What kind of tarts are you making?” Kageyama asked as he followed Suga to the kitchen. He’d been over before, once, to borrow a movie Hinata had mentioned wanting to see.

 

            “Strawberry. The boy next door likes strawberries, and I _thought_ tarts would be easy enough to make. I mean, I was wrong, but I already made the crusts. So.”

 

            Kageyama looked around the kitchen, at the mess Suga had made, at the last couple messed up fillings. Slowly, he nodded.

 

            “I can take care of it.”

 

            “I owe you,” Suga said. “Thank you, Kageyama.”

 

————————

 

            He dropped the tarts off before work the next morning. He’d attached a note that took him an hour to write without messing up his handwriting, and tied it all with a little orange ribbon. It was perfect, beautiful. It wonderfully expressed his gratitude towards his neighbor.

 

            Only, it wasn’t over. When Suga came home two days later, there was another box in front of his door. He looked at it, then at Takeru, who was rummaging around in his backpack for his key.

 

            “What’s—“

 

            “Creampuffs,” Takeru said without looking over. “The tarts were really good, by the way. Thanks. My uncle really liked them, too.”

 

            “Your uncle?”

 

            Takeru glanced over just as he pulled out his key. “Tooru. He’s my uncle. My mom works late at nights, so I come here after school. Anyway. Thanks.”

 

            With that, Takeru went into Oikawa’s apartment, leaving Suga alone with the new box of pastries, topped off with another note.

 

            _Hello Sugawara-san! I’m so glad you liked the brownies, and thank you for the tarts! They were delicious!_

            _-Oikawa Tooru_

 

            Suga sighed as he walked into his apartment. This simply wouldn’t do. He was _not_ going to be outdone. He was going to make something even _better_ than the tarts, and he was going to blow Oikawa away.

 

            So, he called Kageyama, just for advice on what he could make that wasn’t _hell_ , and then headed off to the store. It wasn’t until the next evening that he got an opportunity to actually bake, but he managed the most impressive chocolate pie Oikawa would ever see.

 

            He spent half the night carefully decorating and then packaging the pie, and half an hour writing a card to thank Oikawa for the creampuffs. It got tied together and topped off with an orange bow, and placed in front of Oikawa’s door in the morning.

 

            There was a box of sugar cookies waiting for him when he got home.

 

            “ _How_ —“

 

            “He had the day off,” Takeru answered before Suga could even finish. “And he’s always baking anyway. He said you made a pie.”

 

            “Yeah,” Suga sighed. “Yeah, I did.”

 

            And evidently, that still wasn’t enough.

 

————————

 

            Suga made cupcakes, to which Oikawa returned mochi. So Suga gave him castella, and Oikawa gifted higashi. Each time, the decorations grew more intricate, the packaging more careful, and the notes even more sickeningly sweet. It was beyond frustrating.

 

            He just wanted to thank Oikawa for the damn brownies he didn’t even need to give Suga in the first place. But if Oikawa kept reciprocating with more baked goods, then Suga had to give _more_. It had to be _even_.

 

            When he came home two weeks later and found manjuu waiting for him, Suga actually groaned, letting his head fall forward against his front door.

 

            “Tooru said the same thing when he saw the daifuku,” Takeru told him. That was all he offered before he walked inside.

 

            Suga was running out of things to make. He spent the next afternoon at work complaining to Daichi about the entire situation.

 

            “You know he decorated the manjuu with little books?” he said as he straightened out the bent corner of a magazine cover. “Pristine little books, all nice and detailed. He’s _killing_ me.”

 

            “How awful,” Daichi replied, without a hint of empathy in his voice. “A guy’s giving you delicious desserts and putting so much effort behind them to make sure you like them. What has this world come to?”

 

            “Daichi, I’m _serious_.”

 

            “So am I. Just go on and—“

 

            “Bone him.”

 

            “Fucking— _Kuroo_ —“

 

            “Kuroo, butt out!”

 

            “Lovely to see you, too,” Kuroo said, leaning over the counter Suga and Daichi were standing at. “You know, it makes me so _happy_ to know that the librarians here are so kind and welcoming to the darling patrons such as myself. It really warms my heart.”

 

            “Are you aware that you have over three hundred yen in overdue fines?” Daichi said. He pushed Kuroo’s face away from where it was getting uncomfortably close to his own.

 

            “It may be four hundred now,” Suga chimed in. “Did you ever return that book on satellites?”

 

            “I returned it last week!” Kuroo cried. “And, by the way, I cleared my fines the other day. Chibi-chan can vouch for me. Anyway, Suga, dear—“

 

            “No.”

 

            “—explain why you have taken no course of action towards the man who is baking you all these desserts. Tell me why you haven’t just—“

 

            “Kuroo, don’t do this—“

 

            “—pinned him against a wall and—“

 

            “There are _children_ here—“

 

            “— _taken_ him yet.”

 

            Suga heaved a sigh and buried his face in his hands, while Daichi merely shook his head.

 

            “Why do you do this?” Suga groaned. “You don’t even _like_ sex.”

 

            “Yeah, but I like seeing you like this.” Suga didn’t even have to look to see the grin on his face. “Seriously, though, I’m not seeing the problem with this. He’s just _baking_ you things, and being _thoughtful._ That’s, like, the opposite of a problem.”

 

            “You don’t understand. I don’t _want_ any of them,” Suga said. “Look, he gave me brownies to thank me for a gift I gave to his nephew for his birthday. You aren’t supposed to do that! The whole _point_ was that it was a gift! I don’t _want_ reciprocation. So now I have to make it even, but he won’t let me.”

 

            Kuroo nodded sagely, his expression turning serious. “I see.” He sucked in a breath, and followed up with, “You’re just a fucking idiot.”

 

            “He’s got you there,” Daichi said.

 

            “You’re both assholes,” Suga huffed. “I don’t know why I bothered telling either of you.” He pulled another magazine from the pile on the cart behind him. “I’m just going to have to move. I’ll bake him a really elaborate cake, then disappear into the night. Problem solved. No more having to worry about Oikawa freaking Tooru ruining my life with his damn pastries.”

 

            Kuroo blinked. “Did you say Oikawa Tooru?”

 

            Suga’s irritation faded just a little, to make room for curiosity. “Yeah, you know him?” He knew that he knew the name from somewhere, but he’d never bothered to look it up.

 

            “He’s the owner of that bakery,” Kuroo said. “Kenma likes to stop there after his classes sometimes. Chibi-chan’s boyfriend talks about him a lot.”

 

            _That_ was it. _That_ was where he knew the name from.   _Kageyama_.

 

            “Hang on, you’re getting into a baking war with Oikawa?” Daichi let out a sharp laugh, earning a look from a woman passing through towards the movies. “Oh, I’m so glad you’re here, Kuroo, thank you for leading us to this development.”

 

            Kuroo grinned. “I’m always here to help.”

 

            Of course this would happen. _Of course_. Suga just _had_ to get into whatever _this_ was with an actual professional baker. No wonder everything Oikawa gave him was a culinary masterpiece. That, at least, made him feel a little better about his mediocre attempts at desserts.

 

            “Alright. Alright. Kuroo,” Suga said, “be useful for once in your life, and go track down Kageyama. He was in the children’s section, last I checked.”

 

            “Your words wound me,” Kuroo said, fisting a hand in his shirt over his heart. “But fine, because I am such a _kind_ person, I will do this for you.”

 

            “ _Leave_.”

 

————————

 

            Suga was starting to understand — just a little bit — why Kageyama had such a love-hate relationship with the subject of Oikawa. Because really, Oikawa was thoughtful, his notes were polite and endearing, and he _did_ make the best pastries Suga had ever tasted. But he also wouldn’t _stop_ making them, which was what led Suga into making damn milk bread.

 

            (Milk bread, because it was apparently Oikawa’s favorite, a piece of information Suga had gotten from Takeru, since he’d so clearly told his uncle about Suga’s job at the library.)

 

            “No one even _likes_ milk bread,” Suga said as he kneaded the dough.

 

            “You do,” Kuroo countered. Because of course Kuroo was there, helping, because when it came down to it, he really was a kind person.

 

            “Whatever, no one asked you.”

 

            Suga was going to end this. He was. There was only so long this war could go on for, and Oikawa had to cave at some point. Suga wasn’t going to stop until he did.

 

            “Last time I’m saying this: just—”

 

            “I am not having sex with him. Stop suggesting that.”

 

            “Seriously, Suga, if I didn’t find sex so repulsive, I’d fuck him _for_ you. Why won’t you—“

 

            “I regret this friendship.”

 

            Kuroo draped himself over Suga’s back, a pout on his lips. “You don’t mean that. And I think you’ve been kneading too long.”

 

            Suga let out a sigh. “Your fault.”

 

————————

 

            By the time the milk bread was finished, Kuroo was half-asleep on the counter, watching old videos on his phone, and Suga was slightly considering actually moving to avoid having to go through another night like this. But it was done, at least, and he could package it up and drop it at Oikawa’s before he and Kuroo went to dinner.

 

            “I was thinking that place down the block with the really good yakiniku,” Kuroo said as Suga cut enough orange ribbon to fit around the box.

 

            “You always think the place down the block with the really good yakiniku,” Suga replied. “But yeah, same.”

 

            Kuroo plucked the card Suga had written out while the milk bread was baking from where it sat on the table and scanned over the careful writing.

 

            “I thought you said you didn’t want to fuck him,” he snorted. “The hell is this?”

 

            Suga huffed and took it away from him. “He gets more and more sickeningly sweet with each note _he_ writes. This is honestly a pretty sad attempt to keep up with that. You should read his sometime. Or not. Yeah, no, don’t read his. I don’t want to live through the commentary.”

 

            “Ouch, Suga,” Kuroo said, smile growing wider. “You know, you two are just so _cute_. Like a couple of high school boyfriends. So sweet.”

 

            “ _Kuroo_.”

 

            “Don’t _Kuroo_ me. You’re laughing.”

 

            “Whatever! I’m going to get tape so I can finish this, then we can go.”

 

            Suga turned to go to his room, where he kept two rolls of tape at his desk. Oikawa had better be impressed with this one. He’d put more effort into this milk bread than he’d put into anything else he’d done, and that was really saying a lot.

 

            “Is this the manjuu he made you?” Kuroo called from the other room.

 

            “Yeah, help yourself,” Suga said. He wouldn’t admit he’d been saving them a little longer than any of the rest of the desserts just because of the intricate decorations. He definitely wouldn’t hear the end of _that._

 

            “Okay,” Kuroo said when Suga returned to the kitchen. “I know I’ve made my jokes, but these are so not platonic, neighborly manjuu. Even if he _is_ a professional baker, this is a lot of effort to go to just for your little pastry war.”

 

            “I will pay for your entire dinner if you stop talking right now,” Suga said. “Come on, I want to get going before it starts getting busy.” He picked the package of milk bread off the table and made for the door, not bothering to check whether Kuroo was following.

 

            Once they were both in the hall, Suga locked the door and turned to Oikawa’s apartment, ready to leave the milk bread in front of it and then go to dinner. The problem was, the space in front of the door wasn’t empty.

 

            “ _Ohoho_.”

 

            Suga couldn’t find the words to tell Kuroo to _not_. This was Oikawa. This was Oikawa Tooru, that Suga was seeing for the first time. And he was a lot to take in. Because _shit_ , he was—

 

            “Oh! Suga-san!”

 

            _—really, really attractive_.

 

            “You know,” Kuroo said from over Suga’s shoulder, “I just remembered, I have a date with Kenma tonight. I’ll see you tomorrow, yeah?”

 

            He was gone before Suga could grab him to keep him there, which left him alone with Oikawa. And the damn milk bread. And a lot of feelings Suga didn’t really want to give names to.

 

            He managed to find his voice after a too-long pause, and cringed when his words came out a little too loud. “Oikawa! Uh, I was just— I was going to leave this for you. Um.”

 

            Oikawa was apparently having as much trouble processing this as Suga, because for a rather uncomfortable moment, he didn’t respond. When he did, it was with a full-force smile that fit his perfect pastries and cheerful notes perfectly.

 

            “Oh, you really didn’t have to! But thank you very much!” He let Suga pass him the box of bread, their fingertips just barely brushing. Kuroo was going to get so much shit for abandoning him.

 

            “I did!” Suga insisted. “Have to, I mean. I owe you for the manjuu. Which were amazing, by the way! They were—“

 

            That was when he realized Oikawa was looking down at the card Suga had left on the top of the box. More specifically, a note at the bottom of it that he _definitely_ didn’t remember leaving.

 

            “ _No_.”

 

            “ _PS, if you’re not too busy this weekend, would you be interested in going to dinner?_ Suga-san, I’m flattered!”

 

            “I didn’t write that!” Suga insisted. “I— That was Kuroo! He has no regards for other people, he’s always sticking his nose where it doesn’t belong—“

 

            “So you’re saying you don’t want to go to dinner with me?” Oikawa cocked his head to the side, covering his grin with a look that was _far_ too innocent. He was going to murder Kuroo. He really, really was. “Because I would’ve said yes.”

 

            “I— Really?”

 

            “Sure! You know, let’s do it. Let’s get dinner. Saturday,” Oikawa said. “My treat. To repay you for the milk bread.”

 

            “No, no!” Suga replied. “I mean, yes, dinner, but you don’t have to repay me! Seriously! It’s a _gift._ “

 

            “Well then dinner will be my _gift_ to you!” Oikawa grinned, and it was very much like the expression Kuroo wore when he was about to do something to ruin Suga’s entire day. Like write a note to ask his neighbor to dinner, for instance. “Six o’clock, yeah? I’ll see you then.”

 

            Maybe he’d thank Kuroo before he killed him.

 

————————

 

————————

 

            “Kou-chan! That’s far too much sugar!” Oikawa cried, laughing. “You’re ruining the filling!”

 

            “Well sorry that not all of us went to culinary school!” Suga countered. He did, however, stop adding sugar to the bowl, and stepped back to let Oikawa take over. “You make the damn tarts then, and quit complaining.”

 

            “You came here to _learn_ , Koushi, not _observe_ ,” Oikawa said. “I’ll help you, okay? Takeru, stop whatever homework you’re doing, grab me another bag of sugar.”

 

            Takeru came around the corner from Oikawa’s living room, but stopped in the kitchen doorway. “I’m going to fail school and it’s going to be your fault. First year in middle school, and I’m going to fail, because this is the third time this week you’ve told me to ignore my homework so I could help you.”

 

            “You’re the one making the choice to listen to him,” Suga pointed out with an easy grin.

 

            “Whatever,” Takeru scoffed. Still, the corner of his mouth twitched up, and he got Oikawa more sugar from the pantry all the same. Suga rewarded him with a couple of the spare strawberries, and Takeru looked to Oikawa. “I hope you know he’s the better uncle.”

 

            “He’s not even your uncle!” Oikawa called after him as he exited the room. “Kou-chan, don’t laugh. You’ve corrupted him.”

 

            “All a part of my master plan,” Suga joked.

 

            Oikawa scoffed. “What master plan? Get Takeru on your side, and then what, hm?” He leaned closer, hovering inches away from Suga’s face, almost like a threat, almost like a dare.

 

            “I haven’t gotten that far yet,” Suga said. “But I got him on my side, so regardless, that puts me a step above you.”

 

            “I’m breaking up with you,” Oikawa huffed. “So rude, Kou-chan.”

 

            “That’s fine. I’ve got Takeru and last night’s mochi. I’ll survive,” Suga teased. He rose to his toes and pressed a quick kiss to Oikawa’s lips. “Come on, you’re supposed to be making me tarts.”

 

            “Koushi.”

 

            “Tooru.”

 

            “Make your own damn tarts."

 

            Suga laughed, and wrapped an arm around Oikawa’s shoulders to tug him closer. In the past six months, he’d learned precisely how to get out of having to bake anything he didn’t want to, and he really didn’t want to make his own tarts. So he brushed his lips against Oikawa’s, grinned, and murmured, “Make me.”

**Author's Note:**

> fun fact: i was going to post the start of a multi-chap oisuga fic, and then i wrote this instead. so.  
> oisuga angst's coming next whoop
> 
> thank you very much for reading!!  
> here's my [tumblr](http://reynclds07.tumblr.com/) if you're at all interested!


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